Det blir lite knasigt när man citerar en bloggare som citerar en artikel, men det gör inte så mycket. Det är en underbar sekvens om hur Pete Newell och UCLA’s legendariska coach John Wooden fightades.
And Wooden? He’d just as soon change the subject. He wouldn’t admit to me that Newell had his number, even though the evidence was plain for all to see.
There was a landmark Cal-UCLA game, unencumbered by television interests, in which neither Wooden nor Newell had called a timeout. It was a source of pride for both men; forget the flash cards, the meetings or even an assistant coach. Their players knew what to do – any time, any situation – and they were in shape. Timeouts were a blatant sign of weakness.
With about four minutes left, Wooden had no choice; one of his players was noticeably dragging. He called time, and Cal went on to win. That was the spring of 1957, and the streak was born. ”Do you know that they never beat us again?” said Newell, who retired three years later with eight straight wins against Wooden. ”And they never played timeouts again with us. Psychologically, that had so much to do with our confidence every time we played them. Our guys just figured, ‘We never called timeout. They did.’
ESPN – Remembering Pete Newell – TrueHoop By Henry Abbott
